10 Frugal Ant Control Methods

It’s time for our annual invasion of the ants. Every spring the tiny black ants make their way into our home. It doesn’t seem to matter that we won the war last year, they come back to try again. They are determined to get into the house to see what they can find. They launch an assault for a few days, we fight back, and then they give up and go away. But those few days are a challenging battle. Over the years I’ve learned a few tricks that make the battle easier to win, without dousing the house in Raid or calling an exterminator.

Grits

When an ant eats a grit, the grit expands when it hits the water in their digestive tract. This expansion kills the ant. (They literally

7 Responses to 10 Frugal Ant Control Methods

I have been using the Diotomatious earth. It works against any crawling bug and not just ants. Roaches, earwigs, some spiders etc. Any bug that comes in contact will soon die. Much safer, much less expensive and also much longer lasting than insecticides. It is so fine it sifts under the baseboards and so safe it can be used around food, pets & children. It is even supposed to work for bedbugs – I don’t know for sure since I don’t have them – maybe that’s because I dusted the bedroom when I first moved in and once or twice a year since then.

This myth will forever be with us. Ants are not killed by grits or cornmeal. This is a myth which came about because cornmeal or grits are often used as the carrier for the chemical bait/pesticide. An adult ant cannot swallow an entire girt or grain of cornmeal so therefore it cannot swell up or explode in their digestive tract. Carefully check the facts before writing please. Best bet – Visit reliable sites and read articles written by entomologists. DME is an excellent way to keep ants from coming into the house or on the patio.

I have also used baby powder around my kitchen baseboards to deter ants from crawling up. The powder is so fine that it is hard for them to cross. I also place a few drops of peppermint extract on a cotton ball and put a few of them around the house (under the fridge, under the toilet, close to the crack in the air unit) which deters almost any critter.

I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but it does work. I used a combination of honey and cornmeal–mixing it together really well. Using the honey was bc the ants weren’t attracted enough to the cornmeal by itself. Be sure to use more cornmeal than honey(at least 5 to 1–making sure to leave enough of each to feed all the invaders). It does work, but you may need to attract the ants to the cormeal first. Do not let allow the mixture to get wet at all; none of your ingredients(attractive agent included) can contain water; be contaminated by water; or have an ingredient that contains water! To my understanding, the chemical reaction that is supposed to happen in their bodies happens within the bait before it can be eaten and no harm may be done!

Oh, And you must be patient; it can take a week to 3 weeks to get ‘em all! The good thing is that there are no chemicals and the ingredients are readily available at any store in any location. I’m from remote Mississippi, so I know how hard specific ingredients are to find at times–sometimes impossible without the online delay or paying extra for rushed shipping(not to mention that not all people have credit cards). But…honey and cornmeal can be bought at any grocery store without any drama or delay. I’ve heard that baking soda with an attractive agent works, too.

Why has no one mentioned Borax mixed with higly concentrated sugar water. Of course you will have an ant farm for a few days, but the little devils take it back to poison the nest. Try it, seems to work for me.